Sabrina Carpenter delivered a NSFW performance on the Oct. 18 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” when she sang her “Man’s Best Friend” track “Nobody’s Song” and didn’t self-censor the lyrics “He really fucked me up” twice.
There was likely a miscommunication with the NBC censors, as the profanities were not cut and emitted each time, resulting in them being shown live uncensored on both the East Coast Network broadcast and the Peacock simulcast. Some West Coast viewers noted that the broadcast seemed to have a slight delay and the audio went silent in their stream during the two F-words.
Carpenter served as both the host and musical guest of the show, and the “Nobody’s Song” performance, featuring a martial arts stage setup, took place near the end of the show. Earlier in the evening, she sang “Manchild” as her first musical number.
Carpenter recently used surprise profanity on television during the 2025 VMAs while accepting the Best Album award, where she said: “This world, as we all know, can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity. So to be a part of something that often, more than not, is something that can bring you light, make you smile, make you dance and make you feel like the world is your f*** oyster, I’m so grateful, so grateful to do it. that.”
Offhand profanity has been much discussed over the history of “Saturday Night Live,” and it’s an open secret that NBC and its creator Lorne Michaels don’t like the show being open to possible fines from the FCC. Hosts like Kristen Stewart, Sam Rockwell, and Ariana Grande have all dropped uncensored profanity during their monologues or sketches. Actors such as Norm Macdonald and Jenny Slate have also done it. Rock band The Replacements also dropped an F-bomb during a 1986 concert.
During that time, the show hosted many controversial musical performances, such as NBC removing upside-down American flags from Rage Against the Machine’s amps in 1996 or Ashlee Simpson’s botched vocal performance in 2004.
Carpenter wasn’t the only one to stir up controversy by dropping the F-word in a high-profile context last week. President Donald J. Trump used the word Friday during a live news conference, saying Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “doesn’t want to bother the United States.” Rather than back down from foul language, the official White House X account and the administration’s Rapid Response Team account both posted video of the president’s harsh speech.
